


Bravery

by KairiasYami2



Series: hope (comes slow) [11]
Category: Cartoon Therapy (Web Series), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Backstory, Emile idolizes his brother Logan, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24783166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KairiasYami2/pseuds/KairiasYami2
Summary: Emile has been told many times in his life that he’s “such a Hufflepuff” and a total sweetie pie.(Day 26 of '500 word challenge' I'm doing with myself.)
Relationships: Dr. Emile Picani/Sleep | Remy Sanders
Series: hope (comes slow) [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1671700
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	Bravery

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if I'm any good with writing Emile? Someone let me know if this is horrible please.

Prompt: Lion Tamer

* * *

Emile has been told many times in his life that he’s “such a Hufflepuff” and a total sweetie pie. And Emile is flattered, of course, but also a little disappointed. Emile isn’t a Hufflepuff, despite how he may act. 

He’s a Gryffindor. But he’s not a Gryffindor like Ron - he’s more like Harry, or Hermione, or Neville. He probably would have been in another house if he didn’t decide to be in Gryffindor. He values bravery. He values hard work as well, of course, his brother works so hard and Emile has so much respect for Logan, but it’s not what  _ he _ wants to value, wants to be. But bravery...

Emile doesn’t want to be like his father, who ran away from his children at the first sign that he’d have to raise them himself. Who was so cowardly that he forced his children to take care of themselves long before they should have had to.

He doesn’t want to be like his mother was. Part of him protests at this, saying it wasn’t her fault, but he had heard her, before she died, talking about how afraid she was. She wasn’t afraid of death, or of leaving her children motherless. She was afraid for her husband, that he would be lonely. She didn’t care about him and Logan. And maybe Emile is bitter and overreacting, maybe he’s misinterpreting something, but he doesn’t care. He doesn’t want to be like either of them.

He wants to be like Logan.

To Emile, Logan is a Gryffindor. Despite anyone who would say he is a Ravenclaw for his intelligence and his love of learning, or anyone who would say that he is a Hufflepuff because he works so hard and is so loyal, Emile sees Logan as a Gryffindor. He is so brave - because bravery isn’t the absence of fear, it’s pushing past the fear you have. And Logan is afraid - Emile is no therapist, not yet, but he knows his brother, and he knows how afraid Logan is. He tries to hide it from Emile, of course, not wanting to worry him, but Emile is observant. Logan is afraid that one day he won’t be enough to take care of Emile; he is afraid that one day their father will forget to leave them enough money for food, will leave them behind entirely and not leave any way for them to pay bills or keep the roof over their heads. Emile knows Logan is so,  _ so _ afraid, but he still keeps moving.

Emile is in awe of Logan. He doesn’t know if he’d be able to continue to be so determined in the face of such fear and responsibility, but Logan always keeps walking. He doesn’t let his circumstances get him down. Emile wants to be as strong as Logan.

But Emile isn’t. He’s afraid - he doesn’t speak up against those that bully him at school, because he doesn’t want to cause waves. He doesn’t want to worsen his situation. He just ducks his head and waits out the day.

One day, however, things change. 

He’s running late to his history class, having been held back to talk to his math teacher about doing a makeup test. The halls are almost empty, the bell due to ring any second, but there are some stragglers, and Emile does his best to avoid said stragglers. Most of them he recognizes as those who bully him a little, and he doesn’t want to deal with that today. 

The decision is taken from his hands when he hears a shout. He’s passing by the boy’s bathroom, and he knows what’s happening when he hears cruel laughter. Someone’s being bullied. He freezes. He never does anything against his own bullies, but...this is someone else. Someone other than Emile. 

Somehow, this makes things different. Instead of feeling his usual urge to shrink in on himself and duck his head, he straightens and puts his shoulders back. He marches into the bathroom. As he expected, there’s a group of boys - some of the same ones who bully Emile, actually - and they’ve backed someone else into the wall. This person is wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket, and despite being in the boy’s bathroom and having masculine features, Emile hesitates to call the person a boy. There’s just something about them that’s...indescribable but most certainly not male or female. Emile feels vaguely curious behind his anger, because he’s never met someone who isn’t a boy  _ or _ a girl, and he decides that once he’s stopped these bullies, he’s going to ask this person their name and what pronouns they want. That’s how that works, right?

But first. “Hey!” He shouts, interrupting the jeering the bullies are saying. He doesn’t pay attention to their slurs, because they don’t have anything of value to say. “Why don’t you guys  _ fuck off _ .”

First, it’s time to be a Gryffindor.


End file.
